Improvement in drop-hampers



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N. G. STILES. Drop-Hammer.

w Patented March 2, 875.

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3 Sheets--Sheet 3.

N. 6 STILES. Drop-Hammer.

Patented March 2,1875,

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NORMAN C. STILES, OF MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE STILES &PARKER PRESS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT'IN DROP HAMMERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 160,483, dated March 2,1875; application filed May 11, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NORMAN C. STILES, of Middletown, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inDrop-Press; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent, in-

Figure 1, a front view; Fig. 2, a side View; Fig. 3, a rear view Fig. 4,a top view of the operative mechanism 5 and in Figs. 5 to 10, inelusive,detached views, enlarged.

This invention relatesto an improvement in the drop-press for whichLetters Patent were granted Bennett Hotchkiss, February 17, 1863, and inwhich the hammer is raised by a pair of revolving rolls, one of which ishung upon an eccentric bearing, so that by turning the said bearing theroll is made to approach the other to grasp the strap, or separated torelease the strap, the object being to perfect in details theconstruction and operation of the press; and the invention consists,primarily, in the arrangement of a pair of clamps, one adjustable,combined with the eccentric rolls, which will grasp the hammer strap orbar, and hold it suspended at any desired point, and provided withmechanism for opening said clamps when the descent of the hammer isdesired.

A is the bed which supports the operative mechanism, and on which theanvil A is set. B B are the uprights or posts, between which the hammerB is arranged in substantially the usual manner, so as to move freely upand down, guided by said uprights. B is the strap or bar, which isattached to the hammer, and by which it is raised. This may be aflexible strap, as leather or similar material, or it may be a wood barattached to the hammer by a flexible or elastic connection, B; thelatter is preferred. Upon the upper end of the posts the frame C, inwhich the opera tive mechanism is placed, is secured in substantiallythe usual manner. The drivingshaft D carries upon its extremes pulleys Dby which power is communicated to the mechanism. On this shaft a roll ordrum, D is fixed, and forward of the driving-shaft a second shaft, E, isarranged parallel to the driving-shaft, and on which is a correspondingroll or drum, E The two rolls are geared together, as seen in Figs. 4and 5, so that they turn in opposite directions. Between the two rollsthe bar B passes, and when the rolls are revolving they press againstthe bar with sufficient force, and will cause the hammer to rise untilthe pressure of the rolls upon the bar is relaxed, substantially asin'the said Hotchkiss patent.

In order to release or apply the pressure of the rolls, the secondshaft, E, with its drum E is made adjustable, so as to approach orrecede from the other roll, and this is done by arranging the shaft E ineccentric bearings E as seen in Fig. 7, so that by turning the bearing Eto the position in Fig. 8, the roll E will be drawn away from the otherroll. This is also substantially the same as in said Hot-chkiss patent.

It frequently occurs that it is desirable to hold the hammer suspendedat a certain point, and if this be done by the rolls alone they areliable to indent the bar or strap, so as to materially interfere withthe operation of the rolls to raise the hammer. To avoid this difficultyI arrange beneath the rolls a pair of clamps, F F, as seen in Fig. 5,the one F hung upon a shaft, F The bearings F of this said shaft areeccentric to the axis of the shaft, and to this shaft a lever, F isattached, so that by raising the said lever, as denoted in broken lines,the shaft F will be thrown back, and carry with it the clamp F; but whenforward they lie against the bar, as seen in Fig. 5, and clamp the barbetween the two and hold it in that position, but yet allow it to riseto any desired extent, so that when the hammer is drawn up it will becaught by the clamps F F so soon as the power which raised the hammer isrelaxed, and will be there held until the lever F is raised, as beforedescribed. This is done by connecting to the said lever a treadle, Fthrough a rod, F, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, but so that at any time whenthe hammer is so supported the operator may release it by placing hisfoot upon the treadle and forcing up the lever F The bearings whichsupport the movable roll E are turned, as before described, by means oflevers I, one to each bearing, and these connected together by a bar, 1and a rod, I extending down, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, to a lever, 1 andthe operator at any time, by pressing down the lever 1 will throw up thelevers I, as from the position in Fig. 7 to that in Fig. 8, and thusmove the roll back from the bar, so that it will not engage the bar, butleft free the levers I drop to the position in Fig. 7, which is that ofengagement with the bar.

In connection with the levers I, and represented as hung upon the samebearing, is a lever, L, one arm of which has a stud, a, extendingbeneath one of the levers I, and upon the end of the other arm a weight,L This weight is a counterpoise for the levers I and their connections,so that when free the weight L will drop to the position denoted inbroken lines, Fig. 6, and throw up the levers I to draw back the roll E;but in order that the rolls may remain together against the bar B alatch, L is hung upon the bearing L with an arm, L running back, and aspring tending to throw the latch L forward, and on the shorter arm ofthe lever L is a stud, i, which the latch will engage when the lever Lis raised, so as to drop the shorter arm, and will thus permit the rollsto remain together; but when the operator depresses the lever 1 so as toraise the levers I, they will strike the upper end of the latch L asseen in Fig. 5, and disengage the latch, so that the weight will thenfall and carry and hold the levers I upward, which is the position seenin Fig. 5. This will leave the hammer suspended by the clamps F F. Theclamps F F may be employed with other lifters.

In order that the hammer in its ascent may automatically open the rollsa rod, 1 is arranged vertically in suitable guides on one of theuprights, and in suitable connection with the levers I, as seen in Fig.1, and on this rod is an adjustable stop, 1 which a projection, B on thehammer in its ascentwill strike, and cause the rod 1 and its connectionsto rise with the hammer until the lever L is tripped, as beforedescribed, and throw back the roll, to relieve the bar from the actionof the rolls, and leave the hammer suspended at that point. Theelevation, therefore, to which the hammer will be raised is governed bythe position of the stop I, which may be adjusted on the bar to givesuch desired elevation. The hammer being thus suspended and held by theclamps F F the operator has only to place his foot on the treadle andopen the clamps, as before described, when the hammer will fall.

In doing this the lever F immediately beneath the lever L, as seen inFig. 5, strikes the said lever L, and raises it until it is caught inits highest position by the latch L as seen in Fig. 6, which leaves thelevers I free to fall,

and bring the rolls again into contact with the bar B Thus the pressureupon the treadle not only frees the hammer and permits it to fall, butalso brings the rolls into position to quickly take the hammer up afterits fall. A weight, F is applied to the treadle to insure its quickreturn when freed from the foot that the clamps may immediately engagethe bar. The automatic letting back of the roll, if it allowed the rollto come into immediate contact with the bar B, would retard, if notprevent, the descent of the hammer. To avoid this, a trip, N, is hung tothe upright, which, when the hammer is up, will fall back beneath thelower end of the rod 1 as denoted in broken lines, Fig. 2, and will thusprevent the descent of the rod 1 and its connections; but as the hammerapproaches the anvil it strikes a stud, m, on the trip, and throws itout from beneath the rod I then that rod and its connections will fall,and cause the roll to instantly engage the strap to raise the hammer.The hammer, striking the stop I will cause a quick or sudden upwardmovement of the levers I, and that communicated directly to the rod Iwould impart a corresponding sudden throw to the lever I if theconnection between the lever I and rod I were a close joint, and thusmake it inconvenient and even dangerous for the operator.

To avoid this difficulty, I connect the lever I and the bar I by meansof a slot, 1 in the rod 1 the extent of the slot being sufficient toallow the necessary vertical movement of the rod without contact withthe lever; therefore, the lever I will stand still while the rod 1 playsfreely in its vertical movement.

In order to raise the rod 1 and its upper connections by means of thelever I it is only necessary to turn the lever until it takes itsbearing in the upper end of the slot 1 as denoted in broken lines.

It is desirable at times to adjust the roll D that it may run nearer toor farther from the roll E in order to take the bar B of greater or lessthickness. To do this, a shaft, D, is hung in eccentric bearings D (seeFig. 7,) and these bearings are each provided with a pinion, D andparallel with their axis is another shaft, P, on which are correspondingpinions P working in the pinions D as seen in Fig. 3; and the bearings Dare held by set-screws d. When it is desired to adjust the shaft D andits roll D loose the screws d and turn theshaft P, which correspondinglyturns the two bearings, and will throw the roll D nearer to or fartherfrom the other roll, as may be required; then the screws d should beagain set to hold the bearings in that position. The shaft P and thepinions arenot essential, as each hearing may be turned independently.It is also required to adjust the clamp F so as to be adapted to bars ofdifferent thickness; and this is done by arranging the clamp F upon aneccentric bearing, 1%, which may be turned to so adjust the bar, andwhen properly adjusted fixed by the set-screw 1".

iconss 3 The piece 13 on the hammer is necessarily made of steel, orlike hard metal, and, if attached to the hammer by means of a screw orbolt, or otherwise rigidly, fixed, is, by the jar of the hammer, liableto be broken or loosened. To avoid this, I construct the piece B withv atang, I), extending into the hammer, as in Fig. 9, and beneath the pieceI set in the hammer a spring-pin, 11 which, when the piece is inposition, will rise into a corresponding hole in the piece, as seen inFig. 9, and thus lock the piece in position; and when from any cause itis desired to remove the piece 13, I insert, through the perforation 12over the pin b and which is smaller than the pin, a point, which shallpress down the pin b until it is below the piece B; then that piece maybe drawn from the hammer and removed or replaced at pleasure.

A great difficulty in the use of drops is experienced by the breaking ofthe. bolts which secure the uprights to the base, or loosening of thenuts thereon. To overcome this difficulty I form a recess in the base ofthe uprights around the bolt-hole, as seen in Fig. 10, and place thereinan india-rubber collar, f, and over this a metal collar, t, and thenturn the nut Thard down thereon. This givesa slightlyelastic bearing forthe nut, which will yield sufficiently to prevent the concussion or blowof the hammer from jarring the bolt sufficiently to break it or theupright.

To prevent the nut from turning I arrange beneath it a spring-pin, S,and make on the under side of the nut a recess, or several of them, intoone of which the spring-pin will catch when the nut is completely turneddown 5 and to release the nut from the pin I make a perforation, S,through the nut, corresponding to the recess for the pin, through'whichthe pin may be reached and pressed down, so as to allow the turning ofthe nut when occasion may require.

In the falling of the hammer, the weight of the bar, hung as it must beto the hammer, causes, as it were, a blow upon the hammer 'at the pointof connection, and is liable to break the loop or pin to which it ishung, or to break or injure the bar itself. To avoid this I placebetween the bar B and the loop X, to which the bar is attached, (seeFig. 11,) an elastic block, it, which will receive the force of thedescending bar and break its effect upon the hammer or the bar.

I do not broadly claim the several parts, except as in the combinationshereinafter specified, and, with reference to the seventh clause derside, and a spring to engage in said re cess.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of the rolls 1) and E, thelever I1, its counter-balance L and the latch L substantially as and forthe purpose specified.

2. In combination with the two rolls D and E the eccentric bearings Dfor the shaft of the driven roll D pinions D shaft P, and pinions P, forthe purpose of adjusting said driven roll, substantially as set forth.

3. The clamps F F, the one F of which is provided with an adjustableeccentric bearin g, It, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4:. The combination of the two rolls D and E the lever L, and the latchL with the clamps F F and the lever F all operating togethersubstantially as described.

5. In combination with the rolls D E ,the lever 1 and rod I the slot Iin said rod, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. In combination with the rolls D E, the hammer B, vertical bar I andstop I", the trip N, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. The piece 13, projecting from the hammer, combined with thespring-pin b and corresponding recess in said piece, and the perforation[2 substantially as and for the purpose specified.

8. In combination with the spring-pin S, and the nut by which the partsare secured together, and recesses upon the under side of said nut toreceive said spring-pin, the perforation S, opening into the saidrecess, but of less diameter than the said recess, substantially asdescribed, for the purpose of disengaging said pin.

NORMAN O. STILES.

Witnesses S. A. RoBINsoN, P. H. ALBRIGHT.

